Poll: Rank The Steelers 2014 Draft Needs By Position – Version 2.0

Back in February we asked you to rank the Pittsburgh Steelers 2014 draft needs by position and the results showed that most of you deemed the cornerback position as the primary need. That position was followed by safety and wide receiver. Now that the Steelers have made their moves during free agency and we see the gains and loses, it’s a perfect time to run that same ranking poll again.

Below, simply drag each position into the order that you want them from most needed to least. When you are happy with the order, click next and then submit. I have it set to run for a week and ask that you only vote once. The listed choices below are in the exact order that they finished in the last poll.

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CB and WR can be flip-flopped in my mind. One should be picked in the first and one in the second. CB could be had in the third, but WR is a must in one of the first two rounds. DE would be fine in the 2nd/3rd, but it’s all value from the third on anyway. I’ve seen some mocks that have Hageman dropping to the second. In that case, I’d make every effort to grab him if he falls.

243546

The Steelers biggest need is on the D line. Can Heyward is the only player who looks like a legit NFL starter. Can Thomas is a rotational player, and McLendon still has a lot to prove. Arnfelt and Williams have 4 defensive snaps combined, and may still only be practice squad material.

243546

Don’t confuse need and draft value. D line is the teams biggest need, but it’s not a position that is likely to be addressed in the first round, because the talent isn’t there.

Steelers58

Louis nix. If they can trade back six spots

Brian K

I am surprised that TE is that far down the list. I know we need LBs too, but TEs are way down there. Just surprising given the fact that heath is soon to be done and we could grab his replacement now.

Steelers58

We need a dominant nt. someone who will dominate the line of scrimmage. Remember Joel steed and Casey hampton

Steve

With Ike and Troy retiring soon these are needs behind DL. An experienced Defensive Lineman will be picked up after June 1 to go with one or two in the draft in the mid to late rounds,

Steve

There is no dominant NT in this draft, but there is a boatload of DB and WR. Got to take what you can get and not reach for something that is not there.

dkoy85

I agree that D line is not talked about nearly as much as it should be- it takes a while to develop them and I think that’s why you don’t see them listed as important- we all want an impact player year one.

I put DE as my #2 behind WR(proly should have been #1) as I feel WR can come in and have the biggest impact year one. However WR and CB can be addressed round 2 and 3 and they can still be contributors year one (CB doesn’t need to be a major contributor until next year).

I wouldn’t mind drafting a DE round 1 that will have a faster learning curve due to talent and having him, WR, and CB being starters/big contributors year 2. I really don’t want to wait until year 4 for a DE to start because let’s face it… we don’t have any talent to develop them behind like CB and WR does.

Steelers58

Nix wouldn’t be a reach if we can trade back to the low 20’s . Nix will be a dominant player. He fits the steeler mold

Nolrog

We already have the safety position covered though. Shemarko will take over for Troy and Mitchell will man the other side.Corner though, you’re right. We do need a coner. If there is a big time shut down corner that falls to us in the first, I can see that being the pick, otherwise, I could see them going offense (WR/TE) and picking a corner in the second, DL in the 3rd (comp pick) in either case.

Jmacon

Nix = Hood

Reese Dare

It’d be nice to grab Nix if we can trade back a few spots. Draft Nix, move McLendon outside. Heyward/Nix/McLendon Combo. Snag Allen Robinson (WR who I think fits the Steeler mold well) in the 2nd. Then roll the dice with 2 CBs in the 3rd (One with Comp/One with what we got for trading back in the 1st).

Steelers58

Hey Steve, I’m all for taking the best player available. If steelers have dennard rated as there bpa so be it. You draft a guy that u think can be a potential pro bowl player, especially in rd one. I just happen to think nix can be that guy. Hope Pitt feels same way

Steelers58

I like your thinking Reese .i think nix fits that steeler mold. As for the rest of the draft keep drafting the bpa no matter position. Steelers need to upgrade talent on roster. I won’t be upset if we don’t make po. But with our last two drafts we have a lot of young talent that will shine in a year or two. Just keep drafting bpa

Yeah, I could definitely agree regarding bpa. There are a couple of guys I think would work out well with the Steelers and they fit needs. Shayne Skov, Allen Robinson come to mind, both can be had with relative value at our spot in their projected round.

There is no trading back in this draft unless there is a qb available at our pick that a team is enamored with. Everyone wants their picks in the mid rounds in a deep draft.

srdan

This is a trick question. Ranking the positional needs is not the same thing as the order they should draft in.

Steelers12328882

Question: Which position is better off this year and in the future with its current players? TE with Heath Miller and Matt Spaeth, or CB with Ike Taylor, Cortez Allen and William Gay?

John C

So I have a question for everyone. If Gilbert, Dennard, Evans, Ebron are all gone by 15, who do you think of the players project in first 14 picks falls to us? Thoughts?

John C

I think there are going to be some good TE’s coming out in next years draft from what I read….need to do some research on that….unfortunately we have too many pressing needs….TE might be one that can wait till next season perhaps.

srdan

Lewan, barr, one of the qbs carr or manziel. Depending on what mock you look at, i’d expect haha to be in that mix. Somone always reaches for a 3/4 DE in recent drafts so I wouldn’t be surprised if you see someone like Tuitt

John C

I was thinking Lewan as well but would really hate to spend a first pick on another OL without giving Munchak a chance to turn Gilbert and Adams around. Barr would be nice. Obviously a QB we wouldn’t take first. I really don’t want to draft Nix with the first pick either. Thinking a trade down at that point.

srdan

I wasn’t saying we would draft any of those players, but those are the players that i think will slide down to our pick (and past it, lol)

John C

Oh I know what you meant….I’m just thinking out loud. 🙂

Virdin Barzey

1. CB 2. DL 3. WR 4. LB

Axe Skot

It’d be nice to draft Nix in the third.

John C

I think TE is better off this year without needing to draft a top one. Just by the nature of Dick’s defense and how it takes time for a rookie to get things down we need to get a top CB in this year to spend the year learning…even someone like Troy didn’t start showing things till his second season.

PA2AK

Good point. I could look at those positions in two distinctly different ways. Team needs vs. Steelers 2014 Mock draft.

Steelers58

True. But in the draft you never know. A team may fall in love with a player and trade up. All I’m saying is sometimes you can play the draft. If the guy you love can still be had at 23 instead of 15 why not trade down. Sometimes luck is involved as well. Also keep in mind we have 9 picks. If we trade back we might pick up a few more. Realistically how many pics can really make the team. Why not trade pics into the future. I’d like to build up three high pics in the future, say four years from now. Ie lets say Ben is winding down his career, you now have xtra pics to go n get a franchise qb. The pats do an awesome job of trading forward. Look what happened to the redskins. They trades a lot of future pics to draft rg3 What if they already had those pics in the bank

243546

Ike and Troy won’t be retiring this year. Sure, the Steelers could look to FA after June 1st, but I don’t what they are going to find this late in FA. Can’t the same be said for DB? The only difference is that the Steelers will also have the entire free agency period in 2015 to address DB, in addition to the 2014 and 2015 drafts.

The need at CB is a future need. The Steelers have more time, and more opportunities to address it. If they don’t address DL before the start of the 2014 season, they’re going to have problems. Based on that, how can DB be considered a bigger need?

243546

WR and DE are probably on the same level. At both positions, the team has one legit starter, and a bunch of guys who are either better suited as rotational players, or have no meaningful NFL experience.

243546

If you think that Lewan is a top LT prospect, then the Steelers can’t pass him up (assuming they haven’t been turned off by his possible legal issues). I get what you’re saying about wanting to find out what we have. The flip side of that is, how often do the Steelers have the opportunity to draft a franchise LT? I can’t think of the last time one was available.

Steve

Watched Nix in games plus on the article here. He is NOT worth a 2nd round pick. maybe a third. Donald will be a 1st round but he does not fit the Steelers 3-4 system.

Steve

Another year like he had last year and Ike will be out of there. Troy is the kind when he makes up his mind on something, he does it. Wouldn’t be surprised if he called it quits after this year. Just had enough.

srdan

great post, right to the point

srdan

there are enough holes on this team, that another young tackle could be called a luxury. I am not saying that he isn’t an improvement over our current tackles, or that he wouldn’t be a welcomed impact on the oline, but why draft another tackle when you don’t have a body at all at DE (just an example).

dgh57

The best we have at CB is C. Allen and some would call that questionable. Gay is long in the tooth being drafted in 2007. I. Taylor is over the hill and any resemblance to 2013 and he’ll be replaced in a hurry. If it takes time to learn the defense then the sooner he gets started all the better off we’ll be. Behind the names mentions is just a bunch of unproven prospects.

ApexSteel

I would say D-End, but I’m 99.9% sure that Keisel will be back in June anyway.

243546

You may be right, but it’s still better than what the DL depth chart.

The reality is that Ike and Gay are still OK staryers, who have another year in the tank. Besides, if the steelers had a dominant D line, the CB’s wouldn’t have to do much.

243546

I would prefer a DE, but which one is worth the 15th pick?

Munchak isn’t a miracle worker. Gilbert is entering the final year of his contract, and Mike Adams has shown nothing in two years, and only has two years left on his contract. Beachum has two years left too. The Steelers are going to have to draft a tackle in the next two years. It’s extremely unlikely that they will have a chance at a franchise OT in either draft, so if one falls in their lap, they have to draft him.

Also, the Steelers don’t have a true LT. If Adams eventually gets out of his own way, his future is probably at RT. Beachum did OK, but the game plan was a big part of that. He’s also a liability in the run game.

243546

Bringing Keisel back this year, would be a lot like bringing Ike back next year. It’s an experienced body, but you’d like to have a better option.

ApexSteel

We’d like a better option at a lot of positions, but if it comes down to my prediction of us adding mid and late round rookie DEs to the players we have now I would want Keisel for at least another year over them.

Callentown

CB and D-line (depending on whether the Steelers want to flip Mac outside or not) are the two biggest needs.

After that, I really think we are underestimating the need for a quality Tackly on the O-Line.

WR is a need, but not as big of a need as people are making it out to be. We have Brown, Moore, Wheaton, Moye and could use another.

Brian K

It’s difficult to decide between the top three. CB, WR and DL. I guess it all depends on who is there when Pittsburgh selects. If Evans or Dennard are there at 15 it will be one of them. I think Hageman or Tuitt may fall to their second rounder and that would be a godsend. There are so many players at positions of need you can fall in love with in this draft. Hopefully they pick the right ones.

In Colbert We Trust

Brian K

Mosley. Lee. Barr. If a QB falls that could be huge trade down bait. Get out third back from Cleveland maybe more setting that they are loaded with picks.

Brian K

If all those players you mentioned are gone John, would it be a big reach to take Benjamin?

steelster

Does it really matter who the steelers take 1st with so many needs. The steelers really need to do well with all of the picks. If this really is the best draft class in the last ten years then we need to outdraft everyone else and the steelers will see great results 3 years from now. A long term outlook is needed.

Ernest

Anybody else see Mike Mayock rank Kyle Fuller above Justin Gilbert in his latest position rankings. 1 Dennard, 2 Fuller, 3 Gilbert. Its either he is really high on Fuller or really low on Gilbert interesting to see which it is.

SteelersDepot

He’s been high on Fuller all offseason all the way back to his conference call.

Randy Neff

I agree. It seems like Steeler fans have been spoiled by Ben. Having a stud at left tackle is still desired by every team in the league.

blackandgoldBullion

Yup. We, as fans, are praying that if we get those 3-5 players and everyone that’s already on the team play great, guess what….. we still think Super Bowl is a possibility. Imagine that everybody plays to their potential plus there are no major injuries, could they win the Super Bowl? Still not likely, but anything is possible.

In my eyes, when you are planning on the perfect scenario, then you might as well throw a few more young guys to the wolves. Williams and Arnfelt? Let one of them start, I don’t give a damn. Why bother with Keisel, as some have said.

Sorry, I’m getting off topic. My point is that we are praying for minor miracles for playoffs or more, so why not a miracle with even more young guys. No? Well, that’s okay, at least they’ll get some experience. Then in 2015 you will have a good idea of the pieces you require to win the Super Bowl. Right now, we don’t even know.

dgh57

It depends on where you see the defense headed. Back to using more base defense or more sub package defenses like last year as to what is the thinnest position. I think Tomlin has already said it’s more of the latter and I happen to agree with him. That’s why we brought in Mitchell and Moats because of their more sure tackling ability and why a CB that will be drafted will be known for the same.

Hard Row

Am i the only one not convinced the Steelers have a true #1 pass rusher? Jarvis Jones showed shockingly little last year. I know he was a rookie but if he was a great pass rusher, he would have at least whipped some OTs from time to time.

Porter was raw, but in the few rookie snaps he got, it was obvious he was a natural pass rusher and future star. Jarvis didn’t even beat 4th string preseason OTs.

Worilds has like 5 or 6 good games and that’s it.

steelster

Yes, and if Jones doesn’t make a big leap it’s going to be a long season. Players usually make the biggest improvement from year 1 to year 2 and in his case let’s hope this comes true. With no pass rush and Ike taylor at cb that could be a bad combination. The steelers face brees, ryan, luck, and I believe rivers, that could be 4 losses right there.